The (, ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

'') is a municipal building in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

, north-west

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, standing on the Esplanade Jean-Marie Louvel.

History

Early meetings of the local council were held in the square tower at the Châtelet, which dated back at least to the early 14th century, and was located on the bridge across the River

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

for Nicolas le Valois d'Escoville and completed in 1537. The council rented the building from 1693, before acquiring it in 1733. In the late 18th century, the council decided that it needed a more substantial building and identified the Séminaire des Eudistes on the Place Royale (now known as the Place de la République): the building had its origins in a church commissioned by Jean Eudes. The seminary, created to support the church, was designed in the French

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

and was completed in 1703. It was seized by revolutionaries during the French Revolution, and was then acquired by the council in January 1792. After being converted for municipal use, it was extended with extra wings along Rue Auber, Rue Saint-Laurent and Rue Jean Eudes around an inner courtyard. The complex was completely destroyed by allied bombing in the

Battle for Caen The Battle for Caen (June to August 1944) was a military engagement between the British Second Army and the German in the Second World War for control of the city of Caen and its vicinity during the Battle of Normandy. Caen is about inland f ...

in June 1944 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, the council sought a new municipal headquarters. The building they selected had originally served as the south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne. It had been designed by a monk, Guillaume de la Tremblaye, and completed in 1726. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 27 bays facing onto what became the Esplanade Jean-Marie Louvel, with the end sections slightly projected forward. The main frontage was long. The central section of three bays featured three round headed openings on the ground floor, three segmental headed windows on the first floor, and three smaller segmental headed windows on the second floor. There was a clock flanked by two square headed windows at attic level, all surmounted by a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with carvings in the tympanum and a

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

behind. The wings and the end sections were fenestrated in a similar style to the central section. After the French Revolution, the building became the headquarters of the department of

as well as the local

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

and then became home to the Lycée Impérial in 1804. The Lycée Impérial was renamed the

Lycée Malherbe The Lycée Malherbe is a secondary school in Caen, France. History Since its foundation, Caen has always been an important cultural centre. The University of Caen was founded in 1432. Early 19th century, the Abbaye-aux-Hommes became the seat of ...

in 1892, and relocated to new premises in Avenue Albert Sorel in 1961. The vacant building was acquired by the council and, following conversion for municipal use, re-opened as the town hall in January 1965. The area in front of the building was renamed Esplanade Jean-Marie Louvel to commemorate the life of the former mayor,

Jean-Marie Louvel Jean-Marie Louvel (; 1 July 1900 – 13 June 1970) was a French engineer and politician. He was born in La Ferté-Macé and died in Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the ...

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Caen Government buildings completed in 1726 City and town halls in France 1726 establishments in France